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Ty Burr - Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame

Saturday, September 29, 2012 - 7:00pm

Ty Burr presents Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame ($28.95). How—and why—do we obsess over movie stars? How does fame both reflect and mask the person behind it? How have the image of stardom and our stars’ images altered over a century of cultural and technological change? A well-known film critic answers these questions in this lively and fascinating history of stardom.

Ty Burr will be in conversation with the noted local film writer Thomas Gladysz.

Ty Burr has been a film critic at The Boston Globe since 2002. Prior to that he wrote about movies for Entertainment Weekly, and he began his career as an in-house movie analyst for HBO. His previous books include The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together.

How—and why—do we obsess over movie stars? How does fame both reflect and mask the person behind it? How have the image of stardom and our stars’ images altered over a century of cultural and technological change? Do we create celebrities, or do they create us?

The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, is based on a controversial and bestselling book first published in Germany in 1905. Though little known today, the book was a literary sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the Twenties, it had sold more than 1,200,000 copies - ranking it among the bestselling books of its time.